The Elections : Weintraub Challenger Blames Loss on Lack of UTLA Support

The teachers union and the Democratic Party could have easily forced Los Angeles school board President Roberta Weintraub into a runoff election if they had chosen to back her opponents with money and volunteers, one defeated challenger said Wednesday.

Sherman Oaks physician and screenwriter Barry Pollack was less than 1,000 votes short of forcing East Valley incumbent Weintraub into a June 6 runoff. A third candidate, Ernesto Llanes, received about 13% of the vote.

Weintraub, who won a fourth term on the board, received 28,510 votes, about 51.7% of the vote, according to semi-official results. A 50% plus one vote majority is needed to win.

Pollack said financial and volunteer support from United Teachers-Los Angeles could have won the union another ally on the board, namely him. UTLA, which gave strong support to West Valley incumbent Julie Korenstein and Westside challenger Mark Slavkin, remained neutral in the Weintraub race.

“I think the UTLA made a grave judgment error,” said Pollack, who received 19,374 votes, about 35% of the ballots cast. “Weintraub outspent me 2 to 1, has 10 years of name recognition and only managed to squeak by me with about a 1 1/2% margin of victory.”

Weintraub said that if Pollack had received UTLA support, she would have run a more aggressive campaign. She said she spent only about half of the $100,000 raised for her campaign.

“There is no question people threw up their hands about schools” and voted to oust incumbents, Weintraub said of the close outcome.

Pollack said he told UTLA officials early in the race that he would support the union in the stalled contract talks that threaten to escalate into a teachers’ strike by next month.

Members of the 22,000-teacher union contributed a total of more than $100,000, volunteered to walk precincts and telephoned voters to help Korenstein defeat her five challengers and to assist Slavkin in forcing incumbent Alan Gershman into a runoff.

Although Slavkin was able to force Gershman into the runoff, the results of the costly union effort in the West Valley race are still unclear. Korenstein is less than 50 votes above the 50% plus one majority she needs for a victory over Principal Gerald Horowitz, with potentially hundreds of uncounted ballots remaining, city election officials said. Final results are not expected for several days.

UTLA took no position in the Weintraub race because “there was no strong force wanting Roberta out of office” among teachers and union officials, UTLA spokesman Don Schrack said.

Pollack also said he is disappointed that such Democratic Party leaders as Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City), Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar) and Los Angeles City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky failed to endorse him even though he received the party’s endorsement.

Weintraub, a Republican, received her party’s endorsement in the school board race, which is nonpartisan.

Parent activist Barbara Romey, who finished third behind Horowitz in the West Valley race, said she is pleased to have raised issues such as the reopening of closed Valley schools and the continuing opposition to year-round schools.

Romey, who split conservative votes with Horowitz, said she has not decided whether she will make any endorsements if there is a runoff. Romey lost to Korenstein in a bitterly fought 1987 runoff election, which was held to fill the two years remaining in former board member David Armor’s term.

Horowitz, a political newcomer, said his strong showing reflects the community’s growing dissatisfaction with the school district and with Korenstein’s strong ties with the teachers union.

“I think the district’s current offer to teachers is adequate,” Horowitz said.